Janko Gojković

Janko Gojković
Personal information
Full name Janko Gojković
National team  Bosnia and Herzegovina
Born (1973-04-14) 14 April 1973
Sarajevo, SR Bosnia, SFR Yugoslavia
Sport
Sport Swimming
Strokes Freestyle, butterfly
Club PK Sarajevo
Long Beach Polytechnic High School (U.S.)

Janko Gojković (born April 14, 1973) is a Bosnian former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle and butterfly events.[1] He is a three-time Olympian (1992, 1996, and 2000), and a member of the Bosnian swimming team since the breakup of SFR Yugoslavia in 1991. He held numerous Bosnian records in the 100 m butterfly, and achieved top finishes from the European Championships. After his sporting career ended in 2000, Gojkovic worked in various swim clubs across Great Britain and some parts of Eastern Europe.

Career

Early years

Gojkovic, a native of Sarajevo, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, started swimming at the age of seven as a member of PK Sarajevo under a former Yugoslav system. He accepted a full scholarship to attend the Long Beach Polytechnic High School in Long Beach, California, as an exchange student. He played for the school's swimming team, and also lettered in water polo, before his graduation in 1990.[2] The following year, Gojkovic became a member of the SFR Yugoslavia team, and later achieved a top 5 finish in the 100 m butterfly at the European Championships in Athens, Greece.[3]

International career

Gojkovic became the first ever swimmer to represent Bosnia and Herzegovina at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona since the breakup of SFR Yugoslavia. In the 100 m butterfly, Gojkovic posted a new Bosnian record of 56.81 to earn a second spot and forty-fourth overall in heat one, trailing Spain's top favorite Martín López-Zubero by a full body length of 2.77 seconds.[4] Three days later, in the 200 m butterfly, he pulled off another second spot in the same heat at 2:09.08, but finished only in forty-first overall out of 46 swimmers from the prelims.[5]

Shortly after his first Games, Gojkovic left war-torn Bosnia as a civil war victim, and later attended college in Sheffield, England, where he majored in business and management.[6] Following his graduation in 1996, Gojkovic traveled with the Bosnian team to the United States for a two-month pre-Olympic camp in Pell City, Alabama. Upon his team's arrival, the Bosnians received a warm welcome from the local residents, gathering on street corners and waving blue and gold flags. Gojkovic admitted that while his team gathered through the city proper, he opened a large atlas, and could not find a place called Pell City: "I didn't believe there was such a place."[2][7]

On his second Olympic appearance in Atlanta 1996, Gojkovic failed to reach the top 16 final in any of his individual events, finishing thirty-sixth in the 100 m freestyle (51.28), and forty-first in the 100 m butterfly (56.11).[8][9]

Two years later, at the 1998 FINA World Championships in Perth, Australia, Gojkovic delivered a spectacular swim with a thirty-third-place effort in the 100 m butterfly, posting a lifetime best of 56.02.[10]

Gojkovic swam only in the men's 100 m butterfly, as a 27-year-old, at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. He achieved a FINA B-standard entry time of 56.26 from the Croatian Open Championships in Dubrovnik.[11] He stormed home on the final lap to lead the second heat in a new Bosnian record of 55.55, holding off a fast-pacing Aleksandar Miladinovski of Macedonia by seven hundredths of a second (0.07). Gojkovic's best effort was not enough to advance him into the semifinals, as he shared a thirty-ninth place tie with Venezuela's Oswaldo Quevedo in the prelims.[12][13]

Life after swimming

After his sporting career ended in 2000, Gojkovic worked as an age group coach in various swim clubs across Great Britain and some parts of Eastern Europe. He spent four years at Maxwell Swim Club in Aylesbury, England, before returning to his native Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2004.[14][15] Currently, Gojkovic is appointed as the president and chief executive officer of PK Sarajevo and also, a media marketing manager for an advertising agency Via Mediji.[3][16]

References

  1. ↑ "Janko Gojković". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  2. 1 2 Whicker, Mark (23 June 1996). "Bosnians go from shelled city to Pell City". The Beaver County Times. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  3. 1 2 "O nama" [About us] (in Croatian). Gradski Klub Sarajevo. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  4. ↑ "Barcelona 1992: Aquatics (Swimming) – Men's 100m Butterfly Heat 1" (PDF). Barcelona 1992. LA84 Foundation. p. 363. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  5. ↑ "Barcelona 1992: Aquatics (Swimming) – Men's 200m Butterfly Heat 1" (PDF). Barcelona 1992. LA84 Foundation. p. 364. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  6. ↑ Deas, Tommy (13 July 1996). "Bosnians pair becomes swimming nomads". The Tuscaloosa News. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  7. ↑ Pucin, Diane (16 July 1996). "Pell City, Ala.: The Perfect Host Bosnian Olympians Practiced In Peace.". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  8. ↑ "Atlanta 1996: Aquatics (Swimming) – Men's 100m Freestyle Heat 2" (PDF). Atlanta 1996. LA84 Foundation. p. 36. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  9. ↑ "Atlanta 1996: Aquatics (Swimming) – Men's 100m Butterfly Heat 3" (PDF). Atlanta 1996. LA84 Foundation. p. 46. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  10. ↑ "1998 FINA World Championships (Perth, Australia): Men's 100m Butterfly Heat 6" (PDF). USA Swimming. p. 33. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  11. ↑ "Swimming – Men's 100m Butterfly Startlist (Heat 2)" (PDF). Sydney 2000. Omega Timing. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  12. ↑ "Sydney 2000: Swimming – Men's 100m Butterfly Heat 2" (PDF). Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. p. 206. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  13. ↑ "Results from the Summer Olympics – Swimming (100m Butterfly)". Canoe.ca. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  14. ↑ "Duo set to swim on world stage". Bucks Herald. 12 May 2001. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  15. ↑ "Swimmers provide fitting tribute to Janko". Bucks Herald. 11 September 2004. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  16. ↑ Dupanović, Ekrem (17 October 2012). "Intervju dana Janko Gojković izvršni direktor komunikacijske agencije Via Media Sarajevo" [Interview with Janko Gojković, CEO of communications agency for Via Media Sarajevo] (in Croatian). Media Marketing. Retrieved 7 June 2013.

External links

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